I am primarily interested in works by linguists, or researchers
working with linguists or with linguistic concepts. This list is both hampered
and focused by that restriction, as there is undoubtedly a great deal of work
by social psychologists, speech and education researchers, etc. which I don’t
know about, and from which linguists might profit. If you know of this kind of
work, and especially if you have bibliographies in these areas which
specifically feature work on African American language attitudes, I’d like to
hear from you with details. There’s also a lot of work which touches on
language attitudes or AAE in a general way, and might have been included here,
but I’ve tried to focus on their conjunction. E.g., important works on
attitudes such as those (co-)authored by Howard Giles have rarely done original
research on African American speech, so are excluded here.

Many of the works cited below are from the 1960s and 1970s, as a
great deal of attention was paid by linguists to attitude testing then,
especially in conjunction with education. It seems to me that much of the
important work done at that time may have become undervalued by, or unavailable
and unknown to, current researchers. (I acquired a lot of these works myself
from older scholars clearing out their shelves!) Especially at that time, it
was common to leave ethnic and racial identities out of titles, but rest
assured that all the works below do importantly figure African American speech
(often in conjunction with Mexican-American, Puerto Rican or other dialects). I
have not been able to read all of these and other works on language attitudes,
and would very much appreciate further references, abstracts, and information,
especially of other works on the general topic of language attitudes which
(despite rather general titles) importantly feature AAE.

Where possible below I have given abstracts, or created them from
authors’ text, and will try to add more. In the larger AAE bibliography, these
abstracts are linked to directly.

Author abstract: Americans display multiple and often
contradictory beliefs, perceptions, attitudes, and understandings about
language policy issues. The major US
ideologies of language are similar, however, in their denial of language
inequality. Those who fight for the rights of linguistic minorities accept some
of the main assumptions of their adversaries, the champions of ‘US English’.
These assumptions include the politically disunifying
consequence of linguistic diversity, the validity of competence in English as
an indicator of national loyalty, the intrinsic inferiority of dialects, the
adequacy of will power for mastery of English, and the adequacy of this mastery
for upward social and economic mobility. These and similar assumptions seem to
have led to the exclusion of language from the categories protected by law from
discrimination in the US.
Such a generalization emerges chiefly from debates and judicial opinions about
the official recognition of Spanish and Black English in elections and in
public schools. 71 References.[Adapted from the source document]

Abstract: This dissertation is discussed by supervisor David DeCamp in Shuy (1969:187,
reference below), where DeCamp notes that it examines
“differential reactions of white listener subjects to Negro speech”, working
with “the Osgood semantic differential scale” and using as variables “a series
of features which were widely recognized… as being the shibboleths of Black
English”, presented “as minimal pairs on tape” with standard English forms. [Adapted from another document]

Author abstract: Constructs of teacher knowledge are
discussed as they relate to attitudes toward language variation in the
classroom, especially concerning dialects of Black English. The Ann
Arbor case (1979) ruled that
the school board was to be held responsible for preparing teachers to
adequately instruct speakers of Black English. It was decided that teachers’
negative attitudes toward Black English had damaging psychological effects on
its speakers, and thus impeded their learning. Teachers were required to
undergo an education program to help them understand the problem and work to
solve it. Despite this training, teachers remained unclear as to how to apply
what they had learned to classroom practice. It is argued that solutions to
this problem can be found by examining three constructs of teacher knowledge:
teacher as technician, teacher knowledge as lore, and teacher efficacy. It is
suggested that working the issue of affect into pedagogical theory will improve
[matters].

Author
abstract: Analyzes awareness of the Oakland, California, School Board’s
resolution [OUSD 1996] concerning the status of Ebonics in its public schools,
drawing on questionnaire data from 420 undergraduates at an ethnically diverse
college in the southern US. Results indicate that student race, major, and
choice in the 1996 presidential election increased their familiarity with Ebonics
and the school board’s decision; Anglo and African American students
demonstrated the greatest awareness. Respondents with knowledge of Ebonics
generally showed an understanding of the school board’s decision. The
presidential choice variable was a more significant determinant of student
knowledge of Ebonics & the school board’s resolution than was the race
variable. 5 Tables, 27 References.

Author abstract: Linguists and other social scientists
have identified school curriculum, teacher education, language policy and
testing as pedagogical domains in which to address issues and develop tools
that foster greater academic achievement of African American English-speaking
students, and nonstandard English speakers more
generally. This article focuses on the intersection between teachers’ attitudes
towards African American English and language policy, or lack thereof, at the
secondary school level. The analyses are based on questionnaires completed by
teachers from several public schools located in the New
York metropolitan area. This study includes teachers
with large populations of students for whom English is a second language, or
whose primary language is a dialect of English other than that spoken by the
mainstream. Thus, we inquire to what extent teachers are sensitized to the
educational needs of these students. The results point to the importance of school
policy in affecting teachers’ sensitivity towards African American English.

Author abstract: Response to Lisa M. Koch & Alan
Gross (1997, same journal issue). While agreeing with Koch & Gross’s
assertion that children’s & adults’ perceptions of Black English differ, it
is argued that the difference occurs for similar, not conflicting reasons. The
fact that creative Black English vocabulary was used in the examples heard by
participants is said to have influenced the perceptions of the junior high
school students, who would naturally, due to their age, view a speaker who uses
creative vocabulary as being more contemporary & thus more appealing. In
addition, the assumption that the subjects were fluent in both Black English
& Standard English may be wrong. If subjects were more familiar with Black
vernacular, they would tend to view the Black English speaker m ore positively
based on that familiarity. Finally, Koch & Gross’s suggestion that the
in-group for these adolescents is mainstream American culture rather than their
peers is considered erroneous.

Author abstract: The ‘matched guise’ technique was used to measure reactions
of 120 black high school students towards taped voices of black persons when
they speak Standard English (SE) and when they speak Black English (NNE).
Subjects, speakers of NNE, listened to taped voices of bidialectal
speakers, the two dialects of each speaker maximally separated on the tapes.
Voices were rated on a semantic differential scale for 14 traits obtained from
equivalent subjects. Subjects revealed an overwhelming preference for the SE
guise. Interactions of dialect with speaker sex and student sex are discussed.
Three explanations considered are: (1) influence of school test context; (2)
adequacy of traits; and (3) that subjects may, indeed, accept values of the
dominant culture regarding language standardization. Keywords:Nonstandard dialect; American Negro; semantic differential.

Author abstract: White public space is constructed
through (1) intense monitoring of the speech of racialized
populations such as Chicanos and Latinos and African Americans for signs of
linguistic disorder, and (2) the invisibility of almost identical signs in the
speech of whites, where language mixing, required for the expression of a
highly valued type of colloquial persona, takes several forms. One such form,
Mock Spanish, exhibits a complex semiotics. By direct indexicality,
Mock Spanish presents speakers as possessing desirable personal qualities. By
indirect indexicality, it reproduces highly negative racializing stereotypes of Chicanos and Latinos. In
addition, it indirectly indexes ‘whiteness’ as an unmarked normative order.
Mock Spanish is compared to white ‘crossover’ uses of African American English.
The question of the potential for such usages to be reshaped to subvert the
order of racial practices in discourse is briefly explored. 51
References.[Adapted from the source
document]

Kalin,
R., D.S. Rayko and N. Love. 1979. The
perception and evaluation of job candidates with four different ethnic accents.
In H Giles, WP Robinson, and P Smith,
eds., Language and Social Psychology, 197-202.London: Pergamon Press.

Koch,Lisa M., and Alan Gross. 1997. Children’s perceptions of Black
English as a variable in intraracial perception. Journal
of Black Psychology 23(3): 215-226.

Author abstract:African
American children's perceptions of speakers of Black English vs speakers of Standard English are examined. Studies
involving adult, middle-class African Americans have shown that as they move
toward the mainstream of American culture, thei r
perceptions of speakers of Black English become more negative. Based on
previous studies that suggest African American children perceive Black English
more positively than Standard English, it was hypothesized that they rate
speakers of Black English higher on 24 personality characteristics than
speakers of Standard English. Subjects (N= 53 female & 43 male African
American junior high students) listened to audiotapes: one of an African
American male speaking in Black English, the other of the same male speaking in
Standard English. Responses indicated that subjects viewed the Black English
speaker as more likable than the Standard English speaker. 4 Tables, 27
References. [Adapted from the source document]

Lanehart, Sonja L.
1998. African American Vernacular English and education: The dynamics of
pedagogy, ideology, and identity. Journal of English Linguistics 26(2):
122-136.

Author abstract:The
dynamics of pedagogy, ideology, and identity are discussed with regard to
African American Vernacular English, noting that various ideologies are held
about language, resulting in a variety of repercussions. It is suggested that
the ideology of Standard English sets up an immediate inferior/superior
dichotomy that puts the nonstandard varieties at instant
disadvantage. The ideology of opportunity implies that the standard variety
will benefit its speakers. The ideology of progress is related to ethnocentrism
and racism, suggesting positive outcomes are race and culture related, rather
than due to the failure of the educational system. It is concluded that the
debate over standard vs. nonstandard or the question
of separate language is not about language, but is about a community of
speakers with a recognizable culture. 38 References.

Author
abstract: Described are the attitudes of Black and White, M & F, MC & LC adolescents (N = 27) and preadolescents (N = 16)
in response to tape-recorded samples of Standard English (SE) and Black English
(BE). Using the matched guisetechnique, the BE version approximated the % of
actual vs potential occurrence, as found in Wolfram’s
(1969) Detroit study: non-occurrence of the copula, non-occurrence of the third
person singular -Z, non-occurrence of the plural -Z,
non-occurrence of the possessive -Z, and the occurrence of multiple
negation. There was one occurrence of invariant be in the BE sample.
Results indicate that BE is no longer considered the "shuffling speech of
slavery" by either white or black grade school or high school students.
Complicated aspects of social change over the past two decades have created a
greater feeling of pride among the blacks and some changes in regard for blacks
by whites. Children appear to reach the zenith of ethnic identity about the
beginning of puberty. 6 Tables, 13 References. Keywords: Black English,
attitudes, adolescent language, sociolinguistics, semantic differential.

Lippi-Green, Rosina.
1997. English with an accent. See especially Chap. 9: “The real
trouble with Black English,” 176-201. See also Chap 4: “Language ideology and
the language subordination model,” 63-73. New York: Routledge.

Author abstract:Perceptions
of Black English (Ebonics) vs marketplace English (as
opposed to Standard English, a term that invalidates other dialects of English
and the speakers of those dialects) by Black Americans are discussed. Studies
suggest black adults view marketplace English more positively than Black
English, whereas black youths tend to perceive Black English more positively.
The importance of marketplace English as a survival tool in the US,
due to the perpetuation of institutional racism, is acknowledged; however, it
is recommended that black adults recognize the legitimacy of Ebonics among
African American youth so that they can communicate within the dominant culture
as well as their own. 4 References.

Author abstract: “…This chapter… discuss[es] the attitudes of speakers of Black English toward their
language and the influence these attitudes may have upon the formal
characteristics of the code itself. [The] major points are: native speaker attitudes
toward the code serve to produce a proliferation of referentially equivalent
variants at points where Standard English and Black English differ; positive
valuation of Black communicative style and the unifying function served by
Black English tend to preserve linguistic continuity.” [Adapted
from the source document] Comment:The first insider ethnographic exploration of African
American values and social functions of AAE, this ground-breaking study is
based on 15 months’ fieldwork in OaklandCA
between June 1965 and August 1967. The third chapter, which surveys the speech
acts of signifying and (for the first time) loud-talking and marking,
is also relevant to language attitudes.

Author abstract:To
study variation of behavioral stuttering among
various cultures, verbal disfluency and accessory
characteristics of 15 African American and 15 white male stutterers
(N= 15 each, aged 8-12) were compared. In addition to a speaking attitude scale
for each of the subjects, conversational and reading samples were gathered.
Good intra- and inter-judge reliability was found in assessing the various
tasks. Overall results revealed no statistically significant differences in
verbal or visual disfluencybehaviors
on either the reading or conversation tasks between the African American and
white groups of children. In addition, no differences in
attitudes toward speaking situations was found between the two groups of
children. Implications for the diagnosis and treatment of disfluent
African American elementary school aged children are discussed. Specific
suggestions are made for additional disfluency
research with African American children. 1 Table, 18
References.[Adapted from the source
document]

Payne, Kay, Joe Downing, and
John Christopher Fleming. 2000. Speaking Ebonics in a
professional context: The role of ethos/source credibility and perceived
sociability of the speaker. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
30(4): 367-383.

Author abstract:Within
a theoretical context of speech accommodation theory, this study follows
Lambert et al’s (1960) ‘matched guise’
technique in an experiment involving 72 African American students at a
mid-Southern [US]
university. Subjects listened to and evaluated a tape-recorded excerpt of a
speech given by Jesse Jackson at the 1996 Democratic National Convention. The
speech was translated into Ebonics and Standard English, after which students
answered a questionnaire concerning the ethos/source credibility and perceived
sociability of the speaker. The speaker who used Standard English was viewed as
more credible (ie, more competent and having a strong
character) and sociable than the Ebonics speaker; both of these scores were
significant at the p<.05 level. Future research replicating these results is
urged across other African American samples. 5 Tables, 61 References. Keywords:
Language attitudes, Black English, social perception, standard dialects, nonstandard dialects, psychoacoustics. [Adapted from the source document]

Purnell,
Thomas, William Idsardi, & John Baugh. 1999.
Perceptual and phonetic experiments on American English dialect identification.
Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 18(1): 10-30.

Author abstract: Use of a nonstandard
dialect is often enough information to determine a speaker’s ethnicity, and
speakers may consequently suffer discrimination based on their speech.
Presented here are findings of four experiments, revealing that housing
discrimination based solely on telephone conversations occurs, dialect identification
is possible using the word hello, and phonetic correlates of dialect can
be discovered. In one experiment, several telephone surveys (N=989 calls) were
conducted over a short time period, using standard and nonstandard
dialects to inquire about housing from the same landlords in the San Francisco,
California, area. Results demonstrate that landlords discriminate against
prospective tenants on the basis of the sound of their voice during telephone
conversations. Another experiment was conducted with untrained participants to
confirm this ability; listeners identified the dialects significantly better
than chance. Phonetic analysis reveals that phonetic variables potentially
distinguish the dialects. 14 Tables, 3 Figures, 40 References. [Adapted from the source document]

Author abstract: The movement against Ebonics is examined,
focusing on the current anti-Ebonics legislation that has arisen as a result of
the debate over the OaklandUnifiedSchool District’s 1996 Ebonics
resolution and subsequent national discussion. Among the resolutions presented
to the US House of Representatives are Peter King’s H.Res. 28 (1/9/97), which seeks to block funding for any
program based on the premise that Ebonics is a legitimate language, and John
Doolittle’s H.J. Res. 37 (2/4/97), the English-only bill that seeks to
discontinue federally funded bilingual education programs. In addition, the
five states introducing or having passed anti-Ebonics legislation or that are
working to keep Ebonics out of the country’s classrooms are noted, including
Georgia, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Florida, and California. It is concluded
that this overview of anti-Ebonics policies and legislation indicates America’s
problems with inherent racism and social control and the general tendency
toward a monolingual and anti-multicultural language and literacy education. 19 References.

Author abstract: The relationship between cognitive
complexity, racial belief, and the influence of a nonstandard
dialect on listener reactions is investigated. Subjects (N=135 undergraduates)
listened to an emotionally neutral tape recording of a black PhD candidate and
then responded to questionnaires exploring subjects’ cognitive complexity,
racial beliefs, and attitude toward the speaker. It is found that the perceived
race of the speaker tended to elicit stereotypical responses from listeners,
whether they were black or white. Contrary to the conclusions of previous
research, this finding held for individuals with both low and high cognitive
complexity. However, it is suggested that a person with high racial bias and
greater cognitive complexity is more flexible and thus more susceptible to
positive training and exposure to cultural differences than an individual with
low cognitive complexity and high racial bias. Although this small sample size
precludes its generalization to a heterogeneous population, its combining cognitive
complexity and racial bias variables has produced a higher order construct that
is a significant predictor of language attitudes. 3 Tables, 70 References. [Adapted from the source document]

Scott, Jerrie L.C. 1998. The serious side of Ebonics humor.Journal of English Linguistics 26(2): 137-155.

Author abstract: Given that the Ebonics controversy,
resulting from the OaklandUnifiedSchool District’s [OUSD 1996]
resolution, has led to a special category of humor on
the internet and in the media in the form of jokes, cartoons, etc., this humor is analyzed into three types. The type referred to as
‘namecalling funnies’ is indicated to demonstrate the
linkage between language and other stereotypical personal attributes. The type
called the ‘death-of-English funnies’ is viewed from the angle of maintaining
the integrity of all languages. The ‘code-switching funnies’ focus on the
different discourse rules for different languages/dialects. It is concluded
that this humor reflects the need to expand knowledge
that can be translated into educational policy, practice, and teacher training.

Shuy, Roger W.
1969. Subjective judgments in sociolinguistic analysis.In James E. Alatis, ed., Linguistics
and the teaching of Standard English to speakers of other languages or dialects.Report of the 20th Annual Round Table meeting on Linguistics and
Language Studies. (Monograph series on Languages and
Linguistics, Vol. 22, 1969.)WashingtonDC: GeorgetownUniversity Press,
175-188.

Abstract: Reports results of a large-scale study of
racial identification from audio samples of Detroit speakers of African American
English, with variables of race, status, and age. Discussion pp185-188 includes comments by Fasold, Labov, Baratz, DeCamp.

Abstract: This “report describes the results of a statistical analysis of
subjective judgment data from an earlier study (Shuy,
Baratz & Wolfram 1969) which involved Detroit respondents’ evaluations of five types of speech… Detroit speech, White Southern Speech, British speech, Negro
speech [and] Standard speech… In the original… study, respondents had evaluated
the speech concepts against selected semantic differential scales… Results of
the original analysis indicated selected reliable differentiations of the
speech concepts in terms of individual scales… This paper reports a more
detailed statistical analysis… focused upon the dimensionality of such ratings…
[and] the use of those dimensions by different types
of respondents”, according to race, socioeconomic status, age and sex… There
were reliable contrasts among ratings of the five different types of speech… [and] an interaction was found between the ethnicity of
respondents and certain of the speech-type judgments… [with]
black respondents rating Negro speech more positively… [as
well as] interaction between social status of the respondent and speech
attitude… [and] age of respondent with speech
attitude… [but] no interactions between sex of
respondents and speech attitudes… Four dimensions of judgment could be
identified… the dimensions reflect some level of psychological reality of
stereotype attitudes of the respondents.” [Adapted from the source document]

Author abstract: The controversy over Ebonics and the
educational & social crises of black youths are discussed. In order to help
black youth overcome their resistance to learning, it is recommended that black
leaders (1) recognize that language is the foundation of individual and group
identity construction, (2) teach Black English as it relates to black identity
and heritage, and (3) critically examine the history, sociopolitical,
and sociolinguistic uses of both Black and Standard English; this would form a
basis for understanding what is considered standard and how it became the
standard representative of all people in the US. It is hoped that this approach
will provide black youths with an understanding of the differences between
languages, and the value of language and culture, and thus, pride and
confidence in themselves and their language.

Author abstract:Sixteen
African Americans affiliated with a university participated in open-ended
interviews exploring their experiential, atitudinal
and descriptive responses to Black English Vernacular (BEV). The fields of
sociolinguistics and education report complex and conrtadictory
attitudes and research findings regarding this code. In addition, media
representations of BEV have been misleading. This article investigates how
these sources have influenced the attitudes of these African Americans over 20
years. We found few trends and little unanimity among our respondents. This
finding is neither problematic nor surprising. African Americans do not
comprise a monolithic group, acting, thinking and speaking as one. The results
are summarized, and three issues that emerged from the interviews are
discussed: problems with the label Black
English Vernacular; the possibility that BEV was socially constructed; and the
perception that BEV is a limited linguistic system.

Abstract:
This effort “by the author to assess teachers’
attitudes on language differences… between teachers and students in schools
with substantial black and other minority group children… involved the
developed and administration of a Language Attitude Scale (LAS)… a Likert-type scaling instrument… designed to solicit data on
what teachers think about nonstandard and Black
English, and how (or if) this dialect should be used in the classroom.” 117
test items were selected “as a function of their ability to discriminate
teachers with positive Black English attitudes from those with negative Black
English attitudes… [based on] administration of 117
items to a group of 186 teachers from throughout the United States”. Noting the previous lack of any “controlled study… which
discusses, in-depth, teachers’ attitudes… as a function of such variables as
race, sex, geography, teaching experience, grade taught, etc., S was
administered to a large cross section of teachers to obtain data of these
types.” The sample of respondents included 422 teachers from “one rural and one
large urban school… in each of nine Federal Census districts… [with] at least 20 teachers (10 males and 10 females) …selected in
each of the settings [so as to reflect] the racial and cultural compositions of
the communities”. The LAS instrument is described, and statistical
results presented and interpreted, in detail. [Adapted
from the source document]

Author abstract: African American undergraduates (N= 55)
at a midwestern [US]
university evaluated two language guises: Black English and Standard American
English. The speaker in these guises described activities in a weekend
(informal) and in a business (formal) setting. Based on their scores on the
African Self-Consciousness Scale, respondents were categorized as having either
a low or high commitment to an African American identity. Results showed that
persons without a committed black identity evaluated Black English as lower
status than those with a committed black identity. Black English was not
perceived as reflecting higher social solidarity. 2 Tables, 1 Figure, 31
References. [Adapted from the source document]

Frederick Williams et al.’s early 1970s
research:

The Child Language Research Project (at the Center
for Communication Research, University of Texas, 1970-1972), led by Frederick Williams and colleagues, resulted in the following and other
publications. Williams described the general project as somewhat distinct from
the work of most sociolinguists, which “have placed the emphasis upon
linguistic variables, or [language] features which are socially stratified, and
how these variables may serve in attitudinal evaluations by listeners. In
contrast, [our] aim… is to examine some aspects of the attitudinal processes
presumed to operate when persons make such judgments… [as]
the estimate of a speaker’s social status… My thesis is that, to varying
degrees, [people] have a stereotyped set of attitudes about social dialects and
their speakers, and these attitudes play a role in how a person perceives the
cues in another person’s speech… [The special focus is on] determining and
measuring attitudes that …teachers have reflected in their evaluations of
children’s speech… operationally [defining] dialect stereotypes, and… speculati[ng] on how the dialect stereotypes appear to enter into the
processes of speech evaluations… [People] tend to employ stereotyped sets of
attitudes as anchor points for their evaluation of whatever is presented to
them as a sample of a person’s speech.” (Williams 1973: 113, 126)

In this study,
“videotaped images of children and audiotape samples of their speech [were]…
switched such that, e.g., a standard English passage
could be combined with the video image of a black child, and ratings of that
combination compared with ratings when the same passage was paired with a white
child.”

This study, which also investigated
attitudes among groups of black, white and Mexican-American teachers in central
Texas, “found that ratings could be obtained simply by
presenting a teacher with an ethnic label of a child and asking her to rate her
experiences with, and anticipations of, children of that type.”

An important
part of Wolfram’s study of Puerto Rican speakers in New York City was the focus on their assimilation of
the surrounding black culture and language, which contrasted Puerto Rican
subjects according to the degree of their contact with black AAE speakers.

Author abstract: The controversy surrounding the OaklandUnifiedSchool District
resolution regarding Ebonics is discussed, noting that the debate has emphasized
the existence of beliefs and opinions about language and language diversity,
has resulted in public misinformation about language variation and education,
and has demonstrated the need to inform the public about these issues. Also, it
is observed that the debates of the 1960s were apparently insufficient to
overcome prevailing attitudes and practices. Issues noted in the debate were
(1) the separate language issue, ie, whether Ebonics
was a language or a dialect, rather than simply a legitimate language system;
(2) the source language(s) of Ebonics; (3) the ‘genetic’ issue, the public’s
confusion of the historical linguistics term with biological predisposition;
(4) the bilingual issue, revolving around the rights of African Americans in
contrast to the rights of second-language learners; and (5) the teaching issue,
confusion over learning Ebonics as opposed to respect for Ebonics. To dispel
this confusion, it is suggested that it is the duty of the language professions
to educate the teaching professionals, the students, and the public about these
issues.